- July 16, 2024
- by Bhavik Sarkhedi
- Digital Marketing, Google My Business
Google My Business- Your Business’ True Friend
Google My Business- an Introduction
Every business runner must be curious to know how many clients interact with their company daily and what their feedback is. Google My business has proven to be the perfect answer to this question. Google My Business is a free tool that helps in finding out how many people connect with a company on Google. It helps in keeping account of how customers engage with a company or business profile by counting the number of calls, clicks, bookings a company receives. It enhances a company by enabling the option to create a captivating business profile. You can post photos, deals, and offers to showcase the uniqueness of your company. It provides a bunch of benefits to a business owner by providing various features. Let us unbox these benefits and understand how to use Google My Business for growing a business.
Unboxing the Box of Benefits
Footsteps to Set Up a Google My Business Account
FOOTSTEP 1- Create an account on Google My Business
- Efficient management of information- Every useful piece of information is provided with just one click when a potential customer looks up your company on Google. Your company’s location, website, street address, ratings, working hours, services available, and every latest information appears in search results. This helps the potential customer to get to know your company better. Hence, it increases the likeability for more engagement.
- Customer interaction is the key- Businesses with photos added to their business profiles receive 42% more requests for location search on Google Maps and 35% more clicks to their websites than businesses that don’t add photos. You can interact with your customers by responding to their reviews. Do not shy away from showing off your company’s unique segments and assets.
- Expand your presence- Insights help in learning about your customers and which part of the world is bringing you maximum engagement. You can keep an account of the total number of client calls you receive and how many looked up your company on Google Maps for directions. This will give you a broader perspective to understand your company’s growth and work towards increasing your presence.
Open www.google.com/business for signing up by using an existing Google account or by creating a new one. Make sure you use your business email for signing up.
FOOTSTEP 2- Categorise your company
Add your business name and if it does not appear in the drop-down menu, then click on Add your business to Google. Don’t forget to select the perfect category for your company!
FOOTSTEP 3- Location is a must!
Entering your company’s location is necessary for attracting more customers and increasing your company’s credibility. Select Yes if you have a physical location or else list your service area if you do not have any location to visit but offer a service or delivery.
FOOTSTEP 4- Sharing contact information makes the deal
Enter your company’s contact information and website address or Facebook page if you do not have a website.
FOOTSTEP 5- Let’s finish what you started!
Verify your business after clicking on the Finish option.
How to Optimize Your Google My Business Profile?
- Fill your entire profile- Filling out complete information about your company helps in improving your search ranking. According to Google, local results favour the most relevant results for every search. Companies with complete, accurate, and verified information are easier to match the right searches. Google determines local rankings based on the relevance, distance, and prominence of a company.
- Photos can make or break the deal- Adding eye-pleasing and promising photos of your company always acts as a bonus point. The photos should have a professional look and should be of high resolution. For instance, Airbnb listings with photos shot by a professional photographer observed a 40% increase in earnings, a 24% increase in bookings, and a 26% higher price. You can always apply tips and tricks for capturing the perfect shot if you cannot afford a professional photographer.
- Keep your profile updated- Make sure your contact information is always updated. Add information related to new products, offers, and events. This helps in keeping your profile fresh and updated, increasing sales many folds by attracting more customers.
- Make use of special features and attributes- Category-specific features provided by Google My Business are-
- Hotels can exhibit class ratings and list all the offered amenities.
- Restaurants and bars can update menus, exhibit popular dishes, and add links for online orders and reservations.
- Service-oriented businesses display service menus and booking options.
- Small and medium-sized companies can add product catalogs.
Adding factual attributes to your business profile in order to share information customers care about. Showcasing special services like Wi-Fi, outdoor seating, and accessible wheelchairs for physically challenged customers.
5. Reviews encourage business- A positive review proves to be the determining factor for bringing more legitimacy and customers. It also improves your business’ ranking on Google. Google My Business provides access to a free marketing kit that includes stickers, social posts, and printable posters.
6. Always respond to reviews- According to a survey conducted by Google and Ipsos Connect, businesses that respond to reviews are considered to be 1.7 times more trustworthy than those that do not. Positive reviews and responses build loyalty. Make sure you respond to the negative reviews as well as it showcases your acceptability and your will to grow further.
7. Use Hootsuite for better management- You can integrate Google My Business account with Hootsuite for promoting company updates, responding to reviews, keeping track of people’s experience, and posting any updates, all done in one place. This saves a lot of time and makes common identification easier.
8. Increase organic reach with insights- Google My Business provides insights related to your company and its growth. You can keep track of the number of customers, search for your company, contact you for inquiries, click and open your attached photos on your business profile, and perform other actions. It also informs you about the content created for your social media. You can also use Google Ads for using local extensions in your ads. Google My Business insights come in handy along with Google Ads.
Additional Tips and Tricks-
- How to make photos appealing for your business profile?
- Capture great visuals
- Create a mood board
- Use natural light
- Enough contrast should be present
- Select complementary colors
- Do not over-edit
- How to add attributes-
- Click on info in your account dashboard
- Select Edit under Add Attributes. Search and select the attribute you are looking for and click Apply.
- How to integrate Hootsuite with your Google My Business account-
- Install Google My Business app from the Hootsuite App Directory
- Select which Google My Business app streams you would like to add out of Reviews, Questions, and Posts. Log into Google for authorizing Hootsuite and enabling access to your Google My Business account.
- A popup will display on your screen after authentication is completed. The popup will showcase a list of accounts and locations to be associated with your email. One or multiple locations can be displayed within a stream.
To Sum It Up
To sum it up, Google My Business is a sure-shot way for expanding your company. It provides numerous features and options for creating a virtual catalog of your company. This turns out to be a big asset that attracts many eyes because in the end, who does not believe Google’s search results?
